Sunday, August 8, 2010

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

We love summer for a lot of reasons; at the top of the list is the bounty of produce available at our local farmers market this time of year. This week Alfred picked up 10 pounds of less than perfect looking (though PERFECT TASTING) tomatoes for $3! We’ve been enjoying salsa, cucumber and tomato salads and simple sliced tomatoes all week. Of course, the huge bunches of basil we’ve been purchasing weekly are also a perfect match for tomatoes both cooked and raw. For lunch today, I married these two in a lovely soup. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

Step 1: Roast the vegetables. I roasted the tomatoes on the grill over medium-high heat for just a few minutes per side until the skin started blackening and bursting open. You could also do this under the broiler or over a gas flame.I roasted the carrots and onion by placing them in foil and cooking them on the grill over medium heat for about 20 minutes (I did this the night before, while I was grilling some chicken). You could also roast them in the oven or sauté them until they are very tender and slightly browned.

Step 2: After the tomatoes have cooled, peel, core, and tear them into pieces.

Step 4: Transfer the contents of the pot to a blender (or use an immersion blender) to puree the vegetables. Return the puree to the pot, add the fresh basil. Taste the soup and add more salt as needed. Let the soup simmer another 15 minutes to bring out the basil flavor.

Step 5: Enjoy!

I served our soup with breaded zucchini strips (I coated them in seasoned corn meal and baked them - by the way they are the little "sticks" in the soup picture) and a green salad with balsamic vinaigrette. The soup and zucchini strips were inspired by this post on the blog "today I ate," but I put my own spin on it!

Side note: The cute glass cups the soup is served in were a birthday gift from my wonderful friend Karla. Thanks again Karla, I love them!

P.S. Today we picked 20 pounds of peaches – so look forward to some peachy recipes in the near future!!!

April - I've been buying extra big bunches of basil each week, using about half of it and then drying the other half for use later in the fall and winter! That way I can have great basil (to go with tomatoes and many other things) all year!

Debbi - The carrots impart a lovely sweetness!

Sweet and Savory - I too love soup in the fall. I'm thinking about making some more of this soup, while tomatoes are in abundance, and freezing it for the fall and winter!

About Me

We love to cook, love to eat, and love to read, write and talk about cooking and eating! In short, we live for food. On this blog you'll find simple, healthy (usually), tasty (hopefully) recipes from our tiny kitchen!